D.c. Homicide Rate Falls To 13-year Low

WASHINGTON — The number of people slain in the District of Colombia fell last year to 236, the lowest level in 13 years, while Washington's suburbs also saw an overall drop in the number of killings.

Washington's 2.5 percent decline in homicides was better than the change in the national rate, which fell 1.8 percent in the first six months of 2000, according to FBI figures released last month. "We're actually bucking the national trend in terms of crime declining," said D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey.

Nationally, the homicide rate has reached its lowest point since the late 1960s.

Country Music Hall of Fame closes

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which for 33 years has told the cultural story behind country music, has closed its doors for good.

A new museum will open in May and tourism officials say it will be bigger, better and bolder.

The new $37 million home will contain about 40,000 square feet of exhibit space -- four times the old museum's -- and will sit in a thriving area of downtown Nashville about a mile from Music Row, a three-block area where the city's music industry operates.

Bush to fill 3 more Cabinet positions

AUSTIN, Texas -- President-elect Bush returned to the Texas capital on Monday to work on filling three remaining Cabinet positions and to prepare for an economic forum.

Bush left his Crawford ranch on New Year's Day and returned to the governor's mansion, where he will continue to work despite his resignation as Texas' chief executive.

He still must name the secretaries of energy, labor and transportation. The next announcement is expected today.

The cause of the blast, which leveled the home to the foundation and sent shock waves that could be felt for miles around, was not immediately known.

Investigators determined that an elderly couple had lived in the home, but the victims had not been positively identified, said Montgomery County fire Capt. Ty Stottlemyer.

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4 in family slain; boy, 16, arrested

ADDY, Wash. -- A teenager was arrested after his parents and two siblings were found dead along a rural road near this small mountain community in northeast Washington.

Investigators said the bodies were covered with snow. All four, including the two siblings, ages 11 and 18, were thought to have been shot at their home on Dec. 23 and then taken to the nearby road in the family pickup, investigators said.

The sheriff's office said friends and family members notified authorities after the family hadn't been seen for five days. William L. Lembcke, 16, was booked into the Stevens County Jail on Saturday for the investigation of first-degree murder, Sheriff Craig Thayer said. A court appearance was scheduled for today.